Even the FBI is going green

The FBI Headquarters in Chicago is a LEED Platinum certified building.

Although Lake Superior State University ranked the word green at the top of its list of banished words for 2009, companies and organizations across the US are embracing the green movement. If you are keeping track of LEED certified buildings, you can now add the Chicago Regional Facility of the FBI to your list.

"The facility is the first Platinum recipient in the world under the USGBC's LEED EBOM. Not only is this the first USGBC EBOM Platinum rated facility, it is also the first LEED EB Platinum rated building in Chicago and one of only sixteen LEED EB Platinum projects in the world. Fifteen of these projects are currently located in the United States." Source: PR Newswire

I find it interesting to look through a building's scorecard to see where they garnered the most points, especially when the building makes it to LEED Platinum level. LEED EBOM is structured a bit differently than LEED-NC; a maximum of 92 points are available. In order for a building to obtain LEED EBOM certification, 36 to 42 points must be achieved. LEED Silver is awarded to buildings that score between 43 and 50 points and LEED Gold is given to projects obtaining between 51 and 67 points. The ultimate in LEED EBOM certification, Platinum, is reserved for buildings that achieve 68 to 92 points.

The FBI Regional Facility building received 74 possible points across the six categories on the LEED EBOM checklist. The breakdown of the building's scores are as follows: 8/12 points in Sustainable Sites, 7/10 points in Water Efficiency, 25/30 points in Energy & Atmosphere, 10/14 points in Materials & Resources, 17/19 points in Indoor Environmental Quality and a perfect score (7/7) in Innovation in Operations.

The credits that allowed the building to receive the 7/7 score in the Innovation in Operations category were the durable building credit, the use of occupant-controlled lighting systems, 100% sustainable purchasing, water efficient landscaping, the use of a LEED Accredited Professional on the project and the documentation of sustainable building cost impacts (two points).